It's over!

I didn't want to write about finishing up school-related things until they were all finished. And now they are all finished! These last few weeks have been insane, but I am now all graduated. My thesis and papers are all finished and my award ceremonies are all over, as is graduation. I feel like all the stuff I've had to do over the past couple of weeks has all led up to a really anticlimactic conclusion. This past weekend, however, was really terrific. My parents had a little get-together for me out at their house on Friday. Then graduation was on Saturday, followed by more time at my parents' house and then to another party. That night a few friends and I went to Trader Dick's, which is this silly sorta-tiki bar and got trashed on colorful drinks. Sunday was my bassoon teacher's going-away party, which was also fun times with lots of food.

Graduation was extremely silly because as we all marched into the Quad, I had to carry this goofy banner and that was so big I couldn't see out from behind it. At least I got to sit with Jen and Amy, and we got to sit in the stage. I was the first person from my college to walk, and I sort of led everyone in the wrong direction. It was really funny and only mildly embarrassing. All in all, graduation only lasted like 2.5 hours, which isn't too bad at all.

I leave for Germany in around... I don't know... 28 hours? I haven't even begun to pack. Oops!

It's not hopeless!

12 hours to go and...

Title page, signature page, table of contents, acknowledgments: check.

Abstract: not yet... how long can that take, though? 

Intro chapter: check, minus a concluding paragraph.

Regina chapter: check.

Eugene chapter: 1/3 check.

Formatting: check. (this was a bitch, so it gets its own heading)

Bibliography: check.

Stolen printer card so I don't have to pay to print this thing out: check.

Stolen binder clips because it'll be too thick to staple: check.

Star Trek XII: So Very Tired

I knew this would happen, and yet I did nothing to stop it. I am being forced, mostly due to a really virulent combination of procrastination and writer's block, to write the bulk of my thesis in a weekend. I'm supposed to have my "final" draft in on Monday. I had had done quite a bit of research as well as a chunk of writing previously, but today I have been locked in my room all day attempted to squeeze about 20 or 25 more pages out of my brain. I'm happy to report that I've finished one whole chapter, leaving me with about a chapter and a half to write, plus my abstract and acknowledgments. I've also done a good bit of the formatting. I don't know if I will have this done by Monday, but I'm sure going to try. Right now the writer's block is kicking back in and I have ceased to be productive. And my butt hurts from sitting all day. Owww...

...must...keep...writing...

Major life decisions made easy.

I finally heard back from Duke and I did not get in there either. That sure makes my decision easy! UT it is. Especially because they have decided to give me some money. I'm excited. I think of all the programs to which I applied, with the possible exception of UCLA, UT has the best program for what I want to do.

Here are some fun little facts about how far away from home I am going:

Distance between Austin, Texas and Reno, Nevada
2251.115 kilometers; 1398.778 miles

Distance between Austin, Texas and Havana, Cuba
1718.924 kilometers; 1068.090 miles

Distance between Austin, Texas and Tegucigalpa, Honduras
2084.967 kilometers; 1295.539 miles

I have never lived outside of the greater Reno area, with the possible exception of the study abroad trip to Ireland, but I don't think I was technically living there. This is exciting! Also, scary. Of all the states I thought I would ever move to, Texas was certainly not among them.

Also, I just found out I'm getting the Dean's Award for Outstanding Graduate for the School of the Arts. Pretty neat. All this sudden recognition is pretty cool, but it's honestly making me a little uncomfortable.

Home Means Nevada, part 3.

So, my beloved state of Nevada is experiencing a pretty intense financial crisis, like pretty much everyone these days. However, some brilliant folks are thinking up some new ways to increase revenue. I'm too lazy to summarize, so just read this. Personally, I think taxing prostitution is a pretty sweet idea. Our lipless, psychotic governor disagrees. Hell, he doesn't even think prostitution should be legal. Eh. What does he know.

On a sort of unrelated note, Vince the ShamWow/SlapChop guy, has been arrested for felony battery after an altercation with a prostitute in his ritzy hotel. The Smoking Gun is more eloquent than I am. Check out his mugshot! He looks like a white, very un-sexy Benicio del Toro.

This was almost as good as the biker brawl in the Sydney airport last week.

grumble.

More good news from UT. They're giving me in-state tuition plus $6000/year. So, that means instead of paying around $20,000/year I'll be paying $3000. Cheap!

My computer died last night, which is really devastating for me. The hard drive completely crapped out, which is unfortunate because I never backed anything up, because I'm an idiot. Mostly I'm upset about having lost around 3 years worth of pictures. Most of them I won't miss, but many I will. I called my mom as soon as I left the Apple store, and she consoled me by telling me that her uncle accidentally threw away the 17 rolls of film she took when living in Holland for a year in high school. She says she still gets upset about it, but it's not the end of the world. I figure it's just a good exercise in letting things go. People are too attached to objects, anyway.

Hopefully the hard drive will be replaced by tomorrow, but I have to pay $300 because my computer is kind of old and not even close to still being under warranty.

I just got back from a week in Olympia. I would like to show people my pictures, but oh wait I can't.

Giftschisser.

More news from the grad school front. I've been wait-listed at Duke and rejected from the University of Michigan. However, I find myself not really upset by any of this news, especially because I think UT will be a really good fit for me. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for this whole grad school thing. I must say all these rejections (and the one waiting list) have made my decision very easy. Furthermore, I'm really delighted that the one school I did get into is a really good one.

I'm very excited for graduation now, because my grandmother is buying me a ticket to Germany as a graduation present. I will probably head up to Holland as well, because my family has a lot of friends there. This also potentially frees up some cash for me to take another trip this summer before I move down to Austin. But where to?

I might also have a new tattoo in the works. I'm very excited! I have this random alto clarinet in my closet and I think I'm going to try to sell it for tattoo money, because what the heck am I even doing with an alto clarinet in the first place?